Wild growing bamboo in Thai jungle
There are nearly forty different species of bamboo growing in Thailand and with its wide variety of use, this plant could be considered the most important Thai plant. With bamboo being so common that we can see it everywhere, we take it for granted and tend to forget how much we rely on it daily, not only in the villages, but in the cities as well.
Bamboo is one of the most iconic plants, with some species growing over thirty meters in height, while other species have culms that can hold more weight than steel! That is why you can see bamboo stems used in construction work all over the country. Thai workers rely on its strength to build houses, apartment buildings, hotels, shopping malls and more.
Hill tribe people in the north of Thailand say they can see bamboo grow, and it turns out this is actually not so far from truth. Bamboo is the fastest growing plant in the world, the record holder is a bamboo that was measured to grow 121 cm in 24 hours! Because of this trait, bamboo has reportedly had a much darker purpose in history. Japanese soldiers are said to have used it as a torture device. They would plant bamboo and tie a person on the ground and bamboo stems would grow through the person. This is an unconfirmed story that is mentioned excessively over the internet. Mythbusters have confirmed that this would be possible in one of their shows, but the actual use has never been confirmed.
Bamboo is invaluable for Thai people, they can use it to build a whole house along with all the furniture and tools. They cook meals with it and from it and it also has an economic value as it is sold off to other Asian countries.
Bamboo stems or culms are used for beams and pillars, walls, floors, and roofs of traditional hill tribe huts, furniture making, making of household and garden tools, scaffolding, construction of bamboo rafts, craftwork, basketry, chopsticks, toothpicks and paper-making. They are also used for plywood and biomass production.
Bamboo plants are planted for a fence and windbreaker, for decoration and landscaping.
Karen style cooking in bamboo on open fire
Bamboo shoots (no mai) are used as a main ingredient in a variety of traditional Thai dishes, they can be cooked, pickled, and eaten raw. Bamboo shoots have a high amount of vitamins A, B1, B2 and C.
Bamboo leaves are used for forage.
The many uses of bamboo and the speed at which it grows, combined with its strength and aesthetically pleasing look in decoration means that bamboo is not only one of Thailand’s natural wonders but is also an invaluable sustainable resource for use in natural building and sustainable design.
If you would like a hands on experience and learn to use bamboo like a local northern Thailand villager, check out the following tours:
- On Karen Lover Tour you will learn how to cook in bamboo stems over open fire, how to use bamboo shoots in traditional Thai dishes, how to construct a bamboo raft and take it for a ride and how to use bamboo in hill tribe construction.
- On Rafting Tour in Chiang Dao you will learn how to construct a handmade bamboo raft and sail with it down one of the most picturesque northern Thai rivers to explore the countryside.
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Our guests are learning to cook in bamboo stems
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Rafting on handmade bamboo rafts
Learn more about the versatile bamboo:
– Here is a great recipe for Thai red curry with bamboo shoots
– Here is a list of all bamboo species that can be found in Thailand
– Here is an article about traditional bamboo tattooing
– Here is an overview of Mythbusters’ episode on bamboo torture
